Paper-coating machine.



J; B. MORROW. PAPER COATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1908.

927,995. Patented July 13, 1909.

2 SHEETS-811E131 1.

Patented July 13, 1909. 2 S EEBTB-8HEBT 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. MORROW, OF PEPPERlELL, MASSAGHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PEPPERELL CARD&

PAPER COMPANY, OF PEPPERELL, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU-SETTB.

PAPER-COATING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1909.

To all whm it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. Monnow, a

, citizen of the United States, residing at Pepperell, in the county ofMiddlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Paper-Coating Machines, of which the following isa specification, reference being had therein to the accompanyingdrawings.

My invention has to do with that part of a paper coating machine bymeans of which the paper, after having been coated, is given itspreliminary drying before it is looped on the sticks of the festooningmachine by means of which it is carried through the heated chamber inwhich it is finally dried. This process is sometimes called floating thepaper. When the paper comes through the coating machine, the coatingwhich has just been applied to the paper is in such a condition that ifit touches any object, a streak is left on the paper which renders thepaper imperfect and consequently a portion of it unsalable. In certainpaper coating machines both sides of the paper are coated simultaneouslyand, therefore, it cannot be supported by any tangible object until thecoating has dried sufficiently so that it will not be injured by comingin contact with tangible objects. This result has been accomplished byleading the paper through a chamber and supporting it in the chamber byblowing currents of air against its under side. It has also beencustomary to blow air upon the upper side of the paper and to regulatethe position of the paper in the chamber by means of the intensity ofthe currents of air which strike the paper above and below. It will beunderstood, of course, that this air is heated to the proper degree, sothat the coating on the paper is dried by the time that the paper leavesthe chamber even though the web of paper runs at a high rate of speed.In driers of this kind, it has heretofore been customary to supply theair I to the drier by means of a pipe running the length of the drierand through which the air is forced by means of a single fan driven at ahigh rate of speed. Very considerable difliculty has been experiencedwith machines of this class because of the fact that the air pressure atthe various outlets varies so considerably that at one point the papermay be carried against the ceiling of the chamber while at another pointit will not be properly supported and may sag against the bottom of thechamber, an imperfection resulting wherever the paper comes in con tactwith the walls of the chamber. It is also found with this constructionthat the paper frequently flutters so violently as to cause it to strikethe walls of the chamber or even to break. This fluttering is much moreserious with thin light paper than with heavy paper and has made itimpossible heretofore to coat on both sides simultaneously paper of lessthan a certain weight. It has also been found that a machine which willfloat the paper properly for one weight of paper will not operatesuccessfully upon a different weight of paper.

My present invention has for its object to produce a drier which shallfloat the paper more steadily and which shall make it possible to floatdifferent weights of paper successfully as well as to float a lighterweight of paper than has heretofore been possible in machines of thisclass as previously constructed. My experience with this machine hasshown that paper which is five pounds per ream lighter may besuccessfully dried in this machine.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novelfeatures are pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the closeof the specification.

In the drawings,-I*igure 1 is a longitudinal view partly in elevationand partly in section of a drier embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is asection on line 2-2 Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig.3 is a detail of the mechanism by means of which the speed of the fansis regulated.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1,there isshown at 11 the sheet of paper passingthrough the chamber of the dryingmachine in the direction indicated by the arrow. The sheet of papercomes directly from the coating ma.- chme (not shown) and passes fromthe drier to a suction apron 12 or other suitable mechanism by means ofwhich it is delivered to the festooi'iing machine, also not shown.

The chamber 13, through which the paper passes unsupported except by theair blast, may be of any requisite length necessary to dry the coatingon the paper sufliciently so that it will not be injured by contact witha tangible object, such for instance as the suction apron or thetraveling rods of the fest'ooning machine. The space beneath the chamber13 is divided into a plurality of compartments 14, each of which isprovided with steam pipes 15- or other convenient means for heating theair which is supplied to the drying chamber 13. The steam pipes may beindependent for each chamber or may all be part of one system asdesired. Beneath each of these compartments and in a passage of propershape is located a fan 16 which draws air through the opening 18 in thefloor and forces the same through the compartment 14 to the chamber ofthe drier. A deflector 17 is placed in front of the fan to direct thecurrent of air into the compartment 14. The highly heated air escapesfrom the compartment 1% through the openings or orifices 19 locatedbeneath the paper 11 and is directed in the general direction of theline of movement of the paper by the shape of the orifice 19 throughwhich it escapes and by means of a deflector 21. Above the sheet ofpaper is located another series of compartments 22 corresponding withthe compin'tments 14. below the paper, and each supplied with air fromits corresponding lower compartment through an air duct on the side ofthe sheet. The lower floor of the upper commitments is provided with airorifices 2i and deflectors 25 similar to the orifices 1t) and deflectors2.1 below the paper. By changing the position of the deflectorsslightly, the position of the paper as it floats through the chamber maybe somewhat regulated. If, for instance, the paper sags too much, thelower deflectors are turned upward at that point to project the airagainst the paper more directly. The fans are driven at a variable speedby means of a.

belt 25 on the cone pulleys 2t and 27, the

speed of the fans being determined by the position of the belt on thesaid cone pulleys. l find it convenient to provide a belt shipper 28mounted on a screw 29 and operated by a hand wheel 30 by turning whichthe fans may be caused to rotate faster or slower as the case may be. Inthis way the speed of each pair of fans may be regulated, and thepressure of the air in the corresponding compartments increased ordiminished.

By using a series of independently driven fans the speed of which may bevaried at the will of the operator, it is possible to regulate the airpressure at each point in the drying chamber and consequently it ispossible to float the paper with great accuracy, itbeing necessary onlyto regulate the air pressure slightly to accomplish the desired changein the position of the paper. In this way a very long drying chamber maybe used with equal floating effect throughout. I also find that thetendency of the paper to flutter can be very largely overcome. As thefluttering of the paper tends to break the paper and to produceimperfections in the coating, this is of the highest importance.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a drier for a paper coating machine and in combination with adrying chamber through which the sheet of paper passes to be dried, aplurality of compartments con necting with the-said drying chamber byopenings, a fan for each compartment, and means for giving to each fan aspeed which is independent of the speed of the other fans.

the combination of a drying chamber through which the sheet of paperpasses to be dried, a plurality of compartments in pairs one above andone below said chamber and connecting with said chamber by orifices, aduct connecting said compartments in pairs, heating means for onecon'ipartment of each pair, a fan for each pair of colnpartments andindependent; :nrtuating means tor each of the fans.

In testimony whereof I allixiny signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN Ii. Mt)ltlt()\V.

\Vitnesses iEORGH l. l )1 its, ALIon ll. MoumsoN.

In a drier for a paper coating machine,

